The week in 10 stocks: Stocks that cracked, IPO update plus life highs & lows

Clearly, the heat on stocks is on. The trade contagion is spreading like wild fire. US President Donald Trump is turning up the rhetoric with his latest tariff threat on Chinese imports.

The domino effect is there to see. Domestic equities logged their first weekly loss in three weeks. Domestic macros are sending bearish signals. The rupee is taking a tumble though Friday was a little respite that offered cold comfort. FIIs are pulling out in hordes.

The Sensex slipped 0.12 per cent to 36,494 for the week ended July 20. The index reading was at 36,542 on July 13. Similarly, the NSE Nifty dipped 0.08 per cent to 11,010 from 11,019 during the same period.

Below are the top stocks and sectors that buzzed through the whole week.

Stocks that rallied up to 24%
As many as five stocks on the BSE500 index managed to deliver over 10 per cent returns to investors during the week gone by. The list featured stocks such as Adani Power (up 24.18 per cent), 3M India (16.72 per cent), Bajaj Finance (10.61 per cent), Sterlite Technologies (10.06 per cent) and Indraprastha Gas (10.06 per cent).

30 scrips that cracked
More than 5 per cent of stocks on the BSE500 plunged in double digits during the past five trading sessions. PC Jeweller melted 32 per cent, followed by Dilip Buildcon (20 per cent), Ashok Leyland (19 per cent), Kwality (17 per cent) and Inox Leisure (17 per cent). Vakrangee, ITI, HFCL, V-Mart, HCC, Jindal Stainless, Magma Fincorp, Dr Reddy’s Labs, JSPL, Manpasand and Jain Irrigation are among other firms that went down over 10 per cent during the week.

IPO update
The initial public offering (IPO) by women's apparel maker TCNS Clothing, which hit the capital markets on July 18, got oversubscribed 5.27 times on the last day of bidding on Friday. The Rs 1,125-crore public offer received bids for 5,79,79,780 shares against the total issue size of 1,09,99,828, data available with the NSE showed. The category reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was subscribed by over 13 times. Now, IPO of HDFC AMC will be open for subscription on July-27.

Brokerages back Kotak Bank, post Q1
Top global brokerages remained upbeat on Kotak Mahindra Bank, post its June quarter financial results. The private lender on Thursday posted 12.29 per cent jump in standalone net profit at Rs 1,024.94 crore for April-June. The figure was Rs 912.73 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Brokerage CLSA maintained ‘Outperform’ on Kotak Mahindra Bank with a target price of Rs 1,500 while Citi increased target price to Rs 1,565, from Rs 1,430. Shares of the private lender, however, closed at Rs 1,333.50 on Friday, down 5.08 per cent against Rs 1,404.90 on July 13.

Running out of steam?
Bajaj Auto came off more than 8 per cent on Friday after the company reported lower than expected results for Q1 FY19. The two-wheeler maker reported a 20.71 per cent rise in standalone net profit for the quarter to June.

The Q1 profit figure stood at Rs 1,115.23 crore against Rs 923.93 crore in the same quarter last year. ETNow poll had predicted a net profit of Rs 1,249 crore for Bajaj Auto in April-June.

New axle load norms hit CVs
For the week ended July 20, shares of commercial vehicle makers, led by Ashok Leyland, slumped up to 19 per cent after the government brought in new axle norms for load carrying capacity that experts said could hurt demand. Escorts plunged nearly 7 per cent while Tata Motors declined 4 per cent.

The load carrying capacities of heavy vehicles, including trucks, have been increased by 20-25 per cent at par with global standards, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said on July 17.

"We believe the Street is overly concerned about the new load-per-axle norms. Demand in the near term is thus likely to be subdued due to confusion around the applicability and implementation of norms," Edelweiss Research said in a report.

Stocks @fresh all-time high
As many as 22 stocks on the BSE500 hit their fresh all-time highs during the week. The list included some of the blue-chip stocks such as Reliance Industries, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HDFC and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Britannia, Nestle, HEG, Bajaj Finserv, Jubilant Foodworks and Asian Paints also scaled new life peaks.

Scrips at fresh life lows
On the BSE500 index, Advanced Enzyme, Manpasand Beverages, Inox Wind, Housing Development & Infrastructure, Bank of Maharashtra, Reliance Naval, IDFC Bank and Reliance Power reeled and touched new all-time lows.

Sectoral update
Sector-wise, the BSE Oil and Gas as well as IT indices rallied more than 1 per cent during the week. However, the BSE Metal, Realty, Healthcare, Auto and Capital Goods indices weakened up to 5.94 per cent.

On a roll
Tyre firm Ceat rallied over 7 per cent on Friday after the company reported a multi-fold increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 71.44 crore for the June quarter. This compares with Rs 1.37 crore in the year-ago period. The tyremaker rode on robust demand from commercial vehicle makers.